Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

What’s it about?

Following a family tragedy, Lydia Deetz and her rebellious teenage daughter return to Winter River. When her daughter discovers a portal to the afterlife and accidentally summons Beetlejuice by saying his name three times, the mischievous demon reappears, ready to cause mayhem and turn their lives upside down.

The facts

• Directed by Tim Burton
• Sequel to the 1988 film Beetlejuice
• Starring Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice), Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice), Catherine O’Hara (Beetlejuice) and Jenna Ortega (Wednesday)
• English language
• Runtime: 105 minutes

Why did it get this rating?

This film was cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about the cross-rating process here.

Violence

Like the 1988 film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice features over-the-top violence that's comical but very gory. It’s possible that younger audiences won’t understand some of the humour and may be frightened during violent scenes. Some of the more intense moments include:

• A newborn Beetlejuice makes a couple of dramatic entrances. In one scene, he savagely bites the “mother’s” leg, leaving it bloodied, and in another, he violently dispatches the attending doctor in a gory spray of blood.
• There are a few jumpy scenes in the ‘real world’ which show ghosts who have been killed, including a woman with a knife in her head
• A woman’s head is impaled by a javelin
• A couple bites the heads off of two chickens
• When Beetlejuice realizes he's been poisoned, he grabs an axe to strike the perpetrator, but the scene cuts before the attack

Horror and content that may disturb

Scenes of the afterlife are filled with grotesque characters, including:

• A man who has missing parts of his skull, with his brain showing
• A man who died from drinking drain cleaner
• A person with a melting face in a radiation suit
• A woman partially eaten by her cats

Other moments of horror and disturbing content include:

• In an unsettling and long-lasting scene, a character reassembles their dismembered body using a staple gun. During this part a character also sucks the soul out of people, who then deflate
• A character dies after being bitten by two venomous snakes, and for the rest of the film, they have noticeable bite marks on their neck
• A character appears with the top of his head and chest bitten off, speaking through his exposed oesophagus with blood spurting
• Two ghosts appear with a circular saw and an eggbeater stuck in their faces. This happens in a scene that is more serious and may feel unsettling
• Characters are eaten by a sandworm
• A character is sent through a trap door into a fiery pit, which is supposed to be like hell

Offensive language 

This film has offensive language including f*ck, sh*t, a*shole, a*swipe and bullsh*t, as well as coarse language which includes crap, goddamn, piss, and horny.

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Beetlejuice (1988) – Content breakdown